Casting How I Met Your Mother (season 9)

— carter bays

bays , thomas first introduced milioti possibility playing mother through casting director marisa ross. narrowing down candidates 3 actresses on allowed casting department avoid publicized casting call mother. milioti flown los angeles on-camera chemistry test radnor part of audition. harris, broadway fan , had recognized in makeup trailer, gave milioti hug , exclaimed re mother! before cast. milioti chosen partly because musical history , time on broadway, including performance in once, have allowed play role of mother, musician, more convincingly. bays , thomas wanted avoid casting well-known, fearing audiences preconceptions of famous actress might spill performance in role. milioti s casting received critics, many of whom lauded show resisting urge cast familiar face , instead opting relative unknown. bill kuchman tv.com observed that, because milioti blank canvas many of , has freedom create how met mother character s free of burden of being compared past work .

when asked @ comic-con guest stars, bays revealed that, if there s loved on course of series, there s chance re coming [for final season]. returning guest stars include wayne brady , john lithgow barney s brother , father, respectively, , ellen d. williams robin s co-worker patrice.

also reprising roles ted s teenage daughter , son in year 2030 lyndsy fonseca , david henrie. bulk of series run, stock footage of younger fonseca , henrie series first season have been used, better reflect kids not aging while hearing father tell story. kids scenes included 1 key moment filmed before production on season 2 began; scene, according bays , thomas, served climax ted s story of how , kids mother met. climax filmed on set closed except bays, thomas, camera operator, , fonseca , henrie, signed non-disclosure agreements. fonseca states had forgotten details of scene in years since filming, while henrie states, remember. think remember. ll see.

main cast

josh radnor ted mosby
jason segel marshall eriksen
cobie smulders robin scherbatsky
neil patrick harris barney stinson
cristin milioti mother/tracy mcconnell
alyson hannigan lily aldrin
bob saget future ted mosby (voice only) (uncredited)

recurring cast